Press release
National Federation of the Blind Applauds Partnership
Between K-NFB Reading Technology and Baker & Taylor
Historic Partnership Will Make Millions of Books Available for Purchase
by the Blind
Baltimore, Maryland (October 14, 2009): The National Federation of the
Blind, the nation's leading advocate for access to information by
the blind, today applauds the historic partnership between K-NFB Reading
Technology, Inc., the world-renowned pioneer in reading
technologies, and Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world's largest distributor
of physical and digital books and entertainment
products. This five-year partnership will use K-NFB Reading
Technology's soon-to-be-released electronic book reader to deliver
the highest-quality digital book content to tens of millions of readers
worldwide and harness Baker & Taylor's market leadership and
relationships with 44,000 publishers and major book retailers in more
than 120 countries.
Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: "We are thrilled that Baker & Taylor has joined forces with
K-NFB Reading Technology. This partnership, using pioneering e-book
technology, will provide blind and other print-disabled people
heretofore unprecedented access to the printed word. Until now, the
traditional consumer book market has been largely closed to the
blind, leaving us with limited access to information. Blind students
are often left behind in coursework, unable to obtain books at the
same time as their sighted peers. With this groundbreaking new
partnership, for the first time in history, commercial access to
millions of books is about to become a reality for all blind people."
Ray Kurzweil, CEO of K-NFB Reading Technology, said: "This dynamic
partnership will further my work of more than three decades with the
National Federation of the Blind to make the printed word easily
accessible to the blind. With our growing repository of e-content,
Baker & Taylor's market leadership, and our innovative book technology,
blind people will have millions of books literally at
their fingertips. We expect this collaboration to revolutionize
communication of knowledge throughout the world."
Under the broad partnership with Baker & Taylor, K-NFB Reading
Technology's new e-reader with cutting-edge 3-D technology will
present content in formats accessible to the blind and others with
diverse reading needs, and will operate seamlessly on a variety of
electronic devices, including personal computers, smart phones, and cell
phones.
K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc., is a joint venture between Kurzweil
Technologies, Inc., an innovator and pioneer in reading technologies
and the creator of the first print-to-speech reading machine for the
blind, and the National Federation of the Blind, the largest, most
influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.
